Cornwall Council set up silver room as major incident declared with more heavy snow forecast for Cornwall

Following the decision by Devon and Cornwall Police to declare a major incident, Cornwall’s multi-agency Silver Control emergency centre has been opened at County Hall in Truro to provide a co-ordinated response to deal with any issues created by the deteriorating weather situation.

Chaired by Chief Superintendent Jim Pearce from Devon and Cornwall Police, with support from the Council’s Senior Duty Director Trevor Doughty, the centre brings together representatives of a wide range of agencies and partners, including Emergency Management, Fire and Rescue, Highways, Social Care, health partners, the Environment Agency, and major utility companies.

While there are currently no significant issues in Cornwall, the latest forecast from the MET office is predicting heavy snow showers from 3pm this afternoon and this evening which could see between 10 and 20 cm of snow falling in some areas. Combined with strong easterly winds, this could create blizzard conditions. The very strong winds are expected to continue into the night with the snow gradually turning into sleet and rain – leading to the potential risk of freezing rain. This could create dangerous driving conditions and the police and highways authorities are advising people not to drive unless absolutely essential.

The Council is continuing to work closely with providers to ensure that essential services continue to be provided throughout this period, particularly to vulnerable people. Staff from Adult Care are liaising with care providers to ensure that support is provided to frail and elderly people, with plans in place to use 4 by 4 vehicles to transport staff if required.

The Council is also continuing to work with Cornwall Housing, St Petroc’s Society and other organisations who work with rough sleepers in Cornwall, to provide emergency accommodation and other services.

The Cold Weather Provision (CWP) plans, which include St Petroc’s Society Truro Resource Centre operating as a temporary night shelter and Cornwall Housing placing rough sleepers into emergency accommodation where appropriate, were put in place earlier this week and will remain in place until at least 5 March.

Residents concerned about someone sleeping rough can contact Streetlink – a 24/7 website, mobile app and phone line which allows anyone who has a concern, to send out an alert about the location of someone sleeping rough. Streetlink will then pass on the information to St Petroc’s Assertive Outreach Team so that they find, engage with the person and connect them with support within 24 hours.

There are currently 268 out of Cornwall’s 279 schools closed. Information on schools closures is available on our website www.cornwall.gov.uk/snow CORMAC gritters are continuing to treat the precautionary road network and are also treating secondary routes where possible and responding to specific queries. You can visit www.cornwall.gov.uk/snow. for details of which routes are part of the precautionary network.

Waste collection services have been suspended in Truro and surrounding areas and Hayle and surrounding areas because of the severe weather conditions. Anyone whose collections have been cancelled will need to store their residual and clinical waste until next week. We are planning to carry out the dry recycling and garden waste collections scheduled from today on Saturday this week (03/03/18) weather permitting.

Penmount Crematorium is fully operational. However, whilst the crematorium is operational, it may be that mourners are unable to reach the crematorium. We recommend that people planning to attend funerals contact either the Funeral Director they know to be arranging the funeral or the next of kin of the deceased in case those parties have decided to re-arrange the funeral. We would also suggest that visitors to the memorial grounds might be advised to postpone their visit until the snow and ice has cleared.

All agencies are continuing to monitor the situation closely, and are on standby to take further action as required.

Ipsoregulated

This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's Editors' Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then please contact the editor here. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO here